Age Discrimination

This BDC is very concerned to note that the Draft PfG produced by the NI Executive makes no mention of our older citizens or their needs. 

Once again, they are left to feel undervalued and forgotten.

Neither does the legislation to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of age in the provision of goods, facilities and services appear in the Draft PfG. This is despite promises that it would be brought forward in 2016, 2021 and again in 2022.

The older generation in NI is once again left without the protection in law which their counterparts in other parts of the UK and the ROI enjoy.

This conference believes that age discrimination legislation in relation to goods, facilities and services must:

• Be framed with a strong purpose clause containing a series of clearly articulated goals.
• Include public, private and voluntary sector in it’s scope.
• Include strong protections for older people across all areas of goods, facilities and services, in particular health and social care and financial services.
• Include people of all ages in the scope of the legislation.
• Learn from the experience of the pandemic not to marginalise our older citizens but to value their continued contribution to our society.

This conference calls on the incoming NIC to work with other older peoples’ organisations and campaign vigorously to bring this legislation to belated fruition so that older citizens may get justice